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Tuesday, 9 August 2011

My Side Of School - Crowdfunding campaign

I have been quiet on this blog for a while, please forgive me for such a long silence. I was going to create a new blog but then decided that this one has too many things I value.

I am co-producing a feature documentary called "My Side Of School".

My Side of School' will be an observational documentary about the division between young and old in the small town of Stolac in Bosnia & Herzegovina. There is already division in Stolac - the population of Bosniaks (Muslim) and Croats (Catholic) has endured nationalist rule since the end of the war in the 90s, and local politics aims to keep the two groups apart.

Most young people do not mix with those from the other group, drinking coffee in their own cafes.
However Edvin, Nives and friends are unconventional in that they are a group from both backgrounds.

These characters find it hard to spend time together, especially during the week, as the school they all attend keeps the two ethnicities apart: Croats attend in the morning, and Bosniaks in the afternoon.
Separate sets of staff teach them their own languages and their own versions of history.

This division is clear in the open, but away from the public eye, it's a different story.

There is a hotel in the centre of town which has been decaying since it was burnt out during the war.
Nives and her friend Zora joke that it's now alive again - its dark rooms are the perfect place for clandestine, cross-ethnic teenage adventures.
If their parents knew they were romantically involved with Muslim boys, there would be hell to pay.

This feature-length observational documentary will follow these and other characters over 12 months, to provide a picture of young love, ambition versus apathy, and the conflict between religion, politics and identity in a country that is struggling to prepare itself for the future.

We are funding the next trip to Bosnia via crowdfunding on the website called Indiegogo. For as little as $5 you can be involved in making this documentary and be part of this project.